


What It Means to Me

by voodoochild



Category: Glee
Genre: Awesome Ladies Ficathon, Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-28
Updated: 2010-06-28
Packaged: 2017-10-10 07:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mercedes is the diva. The queen bee. What everyone forgets is that you don't mess with the queen's worker bees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What It Means to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LadyFest '10, for the prompt "r-e-s-p-e-c-t". No particular spoilers, except that Mercedes and Kurt both join the Cheerios.

Mercedes is the diva, everyone knows that.

When there's an R&amp;B song up for grabs, she gets first pick of the solos. She talks Brad and the band guys through the arrangement, decides if they need to mess with the tempo or the key. She rocks out on the melisimas and can belt the fuck out of any soul song out there.

And she loves it, she does. Nothing's better than belting some James Brown, some Temptations, some Aretha. She was so good on "Bust Your Windows" that they might dust it off for Sectionals next year, and she's been working on this kickass harmony for "Sweet Home Chicago". Rachel had never seen Blues Brothers, so Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Mike (who knows every SNL joke in the book) kidnapped her for a double-feature with Wayne's World. They'd started playing around with some of the Blues Brothers songs - Tina does a kickass "She Caught the Katy", Kurt and Mike were messing around with the dance from "Shake Your Tailfeather" - when Rachel decrees this week should be Aretha Week.

Rachel, of course, decides she's doing "Respect", and oh _hell_ no. Girlfriend is good, but she's so pitch-perfect she's sucking all the soul out of the song. But Mr. Schue goes for it, and Mercedes bites her lip the entire week - until she finds Brittany in the bathroom, crying.

The first slushie is always the worst.

It gets everywhere, in your eyes, sticky-wet down your back, soaking into your clothes, and unless you wash your hair right away, it's never coming out. But Brittany doesn't know that, just that she's cold and wet and humiliation smells a lot like cherries.

Mercedes guides her over to the sinks, starts rinsing out Brittany's hair while she pulls out her cell phone and calls in the cavalry: Tina's got shampoo in her locker. Kurt doesn't leave the house without conditioner and moisturizer. Rachel has a ton of extra towels. Santana sneaks an extra Cheerios uniform from Coach Sylvester's office while Quinn distracts her. Finn puts Brittany's clothes through the football team's washer and dryer while Artie watches the door. Mike, Matt, and Puck find Lance Porter and dropkick him into a dumpster wearing only his boxers.

Revenge is good, but it's not good enough. Slushie-ing Brittany is like using a puppy for a golf tee. So she and Rachel talk it over, and they come to an agreement. When Mercedes tells Coach Sylvester, she makes a crack about "sisters doing it for themselves", but agrees as long as the rest of the Cheerios make up the routine.

And at the next football game, Brittany's front and center with her first solo, Mercedes taking her place holding Missy Rockwell's foot for the stunts.

_Ain't gonna do you wrong when I'm gone  
And all I'm asking is for a little respect when I get home . . ._


End file.
